Category Archives: Countdown to Watts

Paul V. Coates — Confidential File, May 2, 1959

Posted on May 2, 2009 by lmharnisch

CONFIDENTIAL FILE Mash Notes and Comments (Press Release) "With so many people planning June weddings, a man who has helped arrange over 15,000 weddings during his career, Robert D. Howard, Hotel Edison executive, has compiled a list of 10 tips. … Continue reading →

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Los Angeles Prepares for Opening of Union Station, April 30, 1939

Posted on April 30, 2009 by lmharnisch

The city made a special effort to examine and celebrate its past during the opening of Union Station. Officials mounted a much more elaborate "parade of progress" than I suspect we would see today. Primitive semi-humans called the Lingoo in … Continue reading →

Posted in Comics, Countdown to Watts, Downtown, Music, Transportation | Comments Off on Los Angeles Prepares for Opening of Union Station, April 30, 1939

Masked Mob Seizes Black Rape Suspect From Mississippi Jail, April 26, 1959

Posted on April 26, 2009 by lmharnisch

The Times takes a look at the 1910 Aviation Week at Dominguez Hills. Here's a post from last year about J.S. Zerbe.   Gunmen wearing masks and gloves raided the jail in Poplarville, Miss., and seized Mack Charles Parker, 23, … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, art and artists, books, Comics, Countdown to Watts, Dodgers, Film, health, Hollywood, Homicide, Music, Politics, Richard Nixon, Science, Stage, Transportation | Comments Off on Masked Mob Seizes Black Rape Suspect From Mississippi Jail, April 26, 1959

Paul Coates — Confidential File, April 25, 1959

Posted on April 25, 2009 by lmharnisch

CONFIDENTIAL FILE Mash Notes and Comments "Dear Mr. Coates, "I am against smog and I understand a lot of other people, including Mayor Poulson, are against it too. "Now you're for a lot of things and against a lot of … Continue reading →

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Paul Coates — Confidential File, February 6, 1959

Posted on February 6, 2009 by lmharnisch

CONFIDENTIAL FILE Good Scout’s Bid Makes Cub Happy I promised you this report. It’s my final one, I hope, on a kid named Butch Harris, who a few months ago got his first lesson in how little some big people … Continue reading →

Posted in Columnists, Countdown to Watts, Homicide, Paul Coates | 2 Comments

Nuestro Pueblo, February 1, 1939

Posted on February 5, 2009 by lmharnisch

This is the bluff overlooking the Cornfield and a good route into downtown if the Pasadena Freeway is jammed. I’ve been neglectful in posting Nuestro Pueblo — so many stories, only one Larry Harnisch. Here’s an interesting entry on a … Continue reading →

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Paul Coates — Confidential File, February 2, 1959

Posted on February 2, 2009 by lmharnisch

CONFIDENTIAL FILE Really, Has Cuba a Barber Strike? Somebody’s got to say it. And it’s obvious that even the man’s best friend won’t tell him. So I guess, as usual, it’s up to me. I mean about Fidel Castro. He … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, @news, Columnists, Countdown to Watts, Front Pages, Paul Coates | Comments Off on Paul Coates — Confidential File, February 2, 1959

Black students seek to halt minstrel show, 1929

Posted on January 28, 2009 by lmharnisch

May 28, 1929.

Posted in Countdown to Watts, Music, Stage | Comments Off on Black students seek to halt minstrel show, 1929

Black Lakers players barred from white hotel, January 17, 1959

Posted on January 17, 2009 by lmharnisch

The Times reports that detention facilities for juvenile girls is badly overcrowded but doesn’t really address the reason, merely saying that the rapid increase in Southern California’s population and lack of room at state facilities are to blame. But why … Continue reading →

Posted in Countdown to Watts, Environment, Film, Freeways, Front Pages, Hollywood, Music, Nightclubs, Sports | 1 Comment

Paul Coates — Confidential File, January 16, 1959

Posted on January 16, 2009 by lmharnisch

CONFIDENTIAL FILE Someday, Butch H., Try to Be Forgiving Some stories I’d rather not print. And when I first heard about what a bunch of grown men and women were doing to a kid named Butch Harris, I filed the … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, Columnists, Countdown to Watts, Freeways, Paul Coates | Comments Off on Paul Coates — Confidential File, January 16, 1959

Another Nixon story challenged, January 10, 1959

Posted on January 10, 2009 by lmharnisch

A strike at a Hollywood supermarket turns into a management lockout involving 1,000 grocery stores across Southern California that lasts for 28 days. The union negotiator charged that the lockout was aimed at crushing the clerks’ union and forcing smaller … Continue reading →

Posted in Countdown to Watts, Front Pages, LAPD, Politics, Suicide | 1 Comment

Gambling and vice on Central Avenue, December 7, 1938

Posted on December 7, 2008 by lmharnisch

France signs a friendship pact with the Nazis. Dine at Lucca, 5th and Western. Above, a group of African American leaders tells the Police Commission that gambling and prostitution are rampant in the black district along Central Avenue, but that … Continue reading →

Posted in Countdown to Watts, Film, Front Pages, Hollywood, LAPD, Sports, Stage | Comments Off on Gambling and vice on Central Avenue, December 7, 1938

Nazi SS troops kill wealthy Jews in orgy of murder, November 23, 1938

Posted on November 23, 2008 by lmharnisch

Death at Sachsenhausen. These old papers are full of ugly stereotypes, but this one makes a powerful contrast with the Holocaust coverage. The Times publishes a United Press story based a London News Chronicle account. The report says a group … Continue reading →

Posted in @news, City Hall, Countdown to Watts, Film, Front Pages, Hollywood, LAPD | 2 Comments

Times election endorsements, November 2, 1958

Posted on November 2, 2008 by lmharnisch

A Methodist church in Little Rock offers a facility rent-free for segregated classes after Gov. Orval Faubus refuses to open the city’s integrated high schools. And an African American boycott of segregated buses in Birmingham, Ala., gets a slow start. … Continue reading →

Posted in @news, Countdown to Watts, Downtown, Film, Front Pages, Hollywood, Nightclubs, Politics, Sports, Stage | Comments Off on Times election endorsements, November 2, 1958

Vision of an African American utopia — Allensworth

Posted on October 31, 2008 by lmharnisch

Photograph by Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times A LOOK BACK: The sun sets on Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park, where original buildings and replicas provide a glimpse of the utopian community founded by a former slave and retired Army … Continue reading →

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Movie star hits USC football player over car crash, September 21, 1938

Posted on September 21, 2008 by lmharnisch

Nazis poised to take Sudetenland Britain and France warn Czechoslovakia she must surrender or fight alone. Germans set tomorrow as war deadline. John Barrymore in "Hold That Coed." Bonus: Learn to dance the Limpy Dimp.   Train crash kills 11 … Continue reading →

Posted in @news, Countdown to Watts, Film, Front Pages, Hollywood, LAPD, Transportation | Comments Off on Movie star hits USC football player over car crash, September 21, 1938

Black newspaper publisher called a subversive, 1963

Posted on September 13, 2008 by lmharnisch

Notes from the political fringe on EBay.  California Eagle publisher Charlotta Bass appears on a list of ‘people who are against the John Birch Society and other patriotic organizations.’ I’m always looking for historic material on the African American papers … Continue reading →

Posted in Countdown to Watts | 1 Comment

Reporter: Ed Guthman, August 22, 1965

Posted on September 1, 2008 by lmharnisch

Aug. 22, 1965–The late Ed Guthman writes in the aftermath of the Watts Riots: "We have all seen enough to know we must make it possible for whites and Negroes to live in a large city in peace and human … Continue reading →

Posted in @news, Countdown to Watts, Front Pages, LAPD | 1 Comment

US relaxes immigration law for Jewish refugees, Greenberg leads Babe Ruth, August 29, 1938

Posted on August 29, 2008 by lmharnisch

I’ve never made a scientific survey, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Eugene Biscailuz were the most photographed sheriff in the history of Los Angeles County. The man certainly knew how to get his picture in the paper. The trophy … Continue reading →

Posted in #games, @news, Countdown to Watts, Current Affairs, Dodgers, Front Pages, Sports | Comments Off on US relaxes immigration law for Jewish refugees, Greenberg leads Babe Ruth, August 29, 1938

Police kill man, rock ‘n’ roll, Dodgers win, August 21, 1958

Posted on August 21, 2008 by lmharnisch

  Hula Hoops and Dick Clark at the Hollywood Bowl (with Rod McKuen!) Jan and Arnie ("Jennie Lee," "The Beat That Can’t Be Beat")? The Six Teens ("A Casual Look")? These are not names that are familiar to me. Hey … Continue reading →

Posted in #games, @news, Countdown to Watts, Dodgers, Front Pages, Homicide, LAPD, Music, Rock 'n' Roll, Television | 2 Comments